Over 13 inches of rain fell along Florida's central east coast, flooding some areas four feet deep, as a weakened Frances edged across the state toward Tampa and the Gulf of Mexico. In its wake, trees and power lines were leveled, broken traffic lights dangled and beachfront roads were littered with coconuts, avocados and tree limbs.

"I was just waiting for the house to blow down," said
Diane Wright
, who rode out the storm in a mobile home in Fort Pierce.

Hers didn't. But even shelters weren't spared: The roof at a school housing evacuees was partially blown off.

The scope of the enormous storm was evident Sunday as bands of rain and gusty wind extended the length of the state's 430-mile east coast from the Keys to Jacksonville and beyond along the Georgia coast. It was expected to move into the panhandle Monday, then into Georgia and Alabama.

The storm was blamed for at least two deaths in Florida. In the Gainsville area, a man was killed when his car hit a tree, and a woman was killed in her living room when an oak tree crashed onto her mobile home.

There were two earlier deaths in the Bahamas, where thousands were forced from their homes.

Frances razed several mobile homes and made a mess of marinas, throwing dozens of pleasure boats against the shore or on top of each other.

Gov.
Jeb Bush
and 20 state and federal emergency officials surveyed damage Sunday as they flew from Tallahassee to West Palm Beach, but the governor said it was too early to assess the extent of the devastation.

Officials warned the aftermath could pose even greater risks. "There are still dangers on our streets where the hurricane passed," Jeb Bush said. "Please be patient."

President Bush talked to his brother on Sunday afternoon to assure Floridians that federal resources were in place to help respond, a White House spokesman said.

Some 8,000 members of the
National Guard
were assigned to recovery efforts.

Suspected looters were arrested in Palm Beach, Orange and Indian River counties.

Once a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 145 mph, Frances slowed and weakened to a Category 2 storm as it neared Florida. Winds receded to a peak of 105 mph before it made landfall at Sewall's Point, north of Palm Beach, around 1 a.m. One gust was clocked at 115 mph.

"We don't know what all of our damage is yet, but we know it could have been a lot worse," Martin County administrator
Russ Blackburn
said.

Initial reports of destruction did not rival the estimated $7.4 billion in insured damage caused by Hurricane Charley in southwest Florida three weeks ago. Frances' path overlapped with some of the area hit by Charley, which killed 27 people. One risk-assessment company estimated insured losses could range from $2 billion to $5 billion.

By Sunday evening, Frances had been downgraded to a tropical storm, with maximum winds near 65 mph and its center about 15 miles east of Tampa. The storm, which was crawling west-northwest at 8 mph, moved off Florida's west-central coast late Sunday.

It could regain hurricane strength over the Gulf of Mexico before renewing its plodding assault on the
Florida Panhandle
.

The storm shut down much of Florida on the traditionally busy Labor Day weekend.

At one time, about 2.8 million residents in 40 counties were told to evacuate from coastal areas, barrier islands, mobile homes and low-lying areas. The largest evacuation in state history sent 108,000 people to shelters.

Airports in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Martin County reopened, but those in Orlando and about 10 other cities remained closed. Officials in Miami and Fort Lauderdale told evacuees they could return home. Miami's airport was crowded with tourists whose vacations were ruined or interrupted by Frances.